I've Always Cared
by MachiavelliFAN
Summary: Zinnia Potter was fiery but is there something more underneath her happy outlook? Fem!Harry Abused!Harry OOC!George
George Weasley never actually cared all that much about girls, even at his age. He left the flirting to his twin brother and, because no one ever really cared to tell them apart, was content to being the mastermind behind their pranks. Fred was their people pleaser and George was the brain. However, he didn't really care about girls – until he had seen her of course.

Zinnia Potter was a feisty little girl. That was the thought that George had when he had first met her. Fred and George had helped her get onto the train despite her many protests about not needing help. The second thought he had was wondering where her family was. This was Zinnia Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, for god's sake! She shouldn't be stranded in the middle of King's Cross where anyone could and would kidnap her. George felt irrationally angry that no one cared.

Lee had managed to distract George from his mood and soon the three friends were laughing as always. The school year passed and George only got a chance to talk to Zinnia again when Fred went to go congratulate on her on losing so many points. Of course, where Fred went, George followed. "Sod off, Fred, George." Fred paused and glanced at him. George had noticed too. Why did she say Fred then George? Why hadn't she said Fred and George?

They watched her a little more closely after that and George couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at how much she got into trouble. It was like she didn't even try and trouble just found her. When she had made the Quidditch team, they had been glad to take her under their wing. Then of course, the dragon, the troll and multiple other incidents occurred and they began wondering how she had managed to stay alive.

Towards Christmas, George, the quieter, more observant of the two, noticed that Zinnia didn't really take Christmas as anything special. She seemed more than glad to just stay indoors. George was having none of that though and dragged everyone outside for a snowball fight. He even charmed the snowballs to hit Quirrel in the back of his head just to get Zinnia to laugh. He liked it when she laughed for some reason.

Zinnia had taken up wandering the halls at night again and George and Fred lost many nights of sleep following her through only the map. They had mastered the disillusionment charm quickly and wondered if she had too. However, they heard from Ron, who was a very big gossip that Zinnia had managed to grab hold of an invisibility cloak that had been her father's. George only wished she would sleep at night.

As his third year came to an end, George wondered what he had accomplished. Sure, his brother and he were one step closer to getting more and more pranks mass produced, but was that really an accomplishment. Fred thought so, but George thought that making Zinnia smile more was an accomplishment. She didn't smile very much for an 11 year old.

Not even Fred could stop his anger. When Ron had expressed his worry about Zinnia not answering his letters, George had been confused. Perhaps she was busy travelling? He had wondered but their newest invention was time consuming and he had quickly been refocused. When Ron became really worried about her prolonged silence and Errol began showing up with his letters returned, George decided enough was enough. The bars on her window, as though she were some caged animal, made him so angry, there were crescent marks from his nails in the steering wheel. George had helped her from the car, trying to become calmer, but that failed when she had winced to put her foot down. It was the same foot her uncle, if he could be called that, had grabbed when they were escaping.

"Are you alright?" George asked, trying not to startle her. He was a light sleeper and, having been awake enough from his anger, had noticed that she had snuck out. She had been sleeping a little bit in front of their house, by the gnome garden. She turned to look at him and he could almost see the moon reflected in her bright eyes. She shrugged. "I like to see the stars." He lay down beside her in the warm heat of the summer. "Did I wake you?" She asked. "No, I'm a light sleeper and I was already awake. Do you want to talk about it?" George replied honestly. She snorted as if not believing that anyone would care. "I've always cared." George retorted in response. She fell silent and, for a moment, no one said anything. "Thank you." George nodded, pulling down that lump in his throat. Why did she make him feel like this?

"We should go in, there are snakes in this tall grass, you know." George commented, his eyes on her, but she was watching the sky still. "Hmm…I'll hear them coming a mile away. Snakes never shut up." George raised an eyebrow at her odd response. "Can you understand them?" He questioned lightly. Imagine that, the Golden Girl of Gryffindor is a parselmouth! She stared back at him through the grass. "No."

When the new school year started, Fred automatically noticed that George was no longer following him around if Zinnia was anywhere nearby. George was more likely to stay up and plan out pranks while keeping Zinnia company on those nights that her insomnia acted up. He still hadn't figured out why he cared so much about Zinnia.

George blamed himself later on when Ginny was taken. He should have paid more attention and had instead been distracted by Zinnia. He had felt so horrible and angry at not being able to do anything that he hadn't even noticed Zinnia leaving to go find his sister. Only when they came back to the Headmaster's office did he realize she had saved Ginny and Ron. While his family thanked her and smothered Ginny, Zinnia was left to be taken to the hospital wing. He stayed with his family.

That summer in Egypt proved to be fun and challenging at the same time. Fred and George pulled many pranks and their brother Bill even helped them with their plans. However, George couldn't help but feel that he had done something terribly wrong. He knew automatically that something had happened when Zinnia was at the Leaky Cauldron before they had arrived. Ron had seemed glad to see her, but Zinnia had minutely flinched at the hugs she had received and no one else seemed to have seen it. George stayed up that night, trying to hear if she was awake because of the close proximity of their rooms. He heard nothing.


End file.
